Tied Read online

  I didn’t want to take any risks though.

  Gunnar sat back. “I’ll have Peaches run a check on her. Eugene McArthur, too.”

  We could use all the info we could get on this old fucker.

  Gunnar stared at me for too long. “And if we find something?” I knew what Gunnar was thinking but it still pissed me off.

  “I gave her my word I’d help her out, and I will.”

  I didn’t bother to bring up the fact that I was on board every fucking time the MC needed me. But I wasn’t a whiny ass little bitch, and I knew this world wasn’t fair so I nodded.

  “If you find something that makes you all want to back out, we’ll leave the ranch until Hennessy is safe.”

  “Leave the ranch? No fucking way.” Wheeler shook his head, glaring at Gunnar to say something.

  But Gunnar just nodded, like that assurance was all he needed to hear. Like it was a done fucking deal that I agreed to leave the ranch and take a break from the MC to help out a friend.

  How could he agree so easily when I fought, every fucking time, like it was my own fucking life on the line? Yeah, it pissed me off. A lot. But acting like an asshole right now would only make things worse.

  “If that’s what you feel is best.”

  “Sure. Whatever.”

  I shook my head and stood, ready to bolt as soon as the fucking meeting was adjourned. I was the first one out the door, but I could hear Holden’s big-ass footsteps on my tail. The man was slow as molasses, with long deliberate strides that were impossible to keep up with if you weren’t a giant.

  “I don’t need a babysitter.”

  “Good because I’m too old to babysit grown men. What’s eatin’ at ya?”

  “Nothing.”

  Holden wouldn’t understand because he was a rule follower above all else.

  “Bullshit. Something pissed you off, but good, I want to know what.”

  His deep voice had a way of trying to lull you into peace before he pounced, but I was too damn smart for that.

  “Well if Holden wants to know…” I started and shook the rest of the sentence off with an annoyed shrug.

  “You pissed you’re stuck with that party idea?”

  “No.”

  “So you are pissed off about something.”

  “No, I’m not.” I wasn’t. I just wanted to get on my bike and eat up the road until I needed to come back to the club and work my shift tonight.

  “I’m fine, Holden. Don’t you have a woman waiting on you at home?”

  He grinned. “So do you, it seems.”

  “Not for long. She’s mad I brought her here when I didn’t have club approval.”

  “She’s scared, and you offered her a lifeline only to snatch it away. Understandable.”

  He stroked his stubble and stared at me.

  “What?”

  “Nothing. I think this will be good for you, Cruz.”

  I didn’t know what the hell he meant by that, and I wasn’t gonna ask. “The same way you helped Aspen even though you hated her guts, I have to help Hennessy. She was a sweet kid and her old man is a piece of shit. None of this is her fault.”

  He nodded. “And helping Aspen was more than good for me. Not just because she’s mine now, but it forced me to address some issues I was happy to ignore.”

  “I’m happy for you, Holden. But this ain’t that. This is strictly a business arrangement. A marriage of convenience.”

  “We’ll see if you’re still humming that tune after you’re married. But that’s not what’s eating at you. Spill.”

  I wanted to vent about Gunnar, but I didn’t.

  “I’m just pissed that my shit is dependent on all kinds of things when everyone else gets help with no questions asked.”

  Now that I said it, I felt like a crybaby.

  “Never mind. Look, I gotta get outta here.”

  “I’m here if you need to talk, Cruz.”

  “Yeah, thanks.”

  I appreciated his calm coolness and the way Holden didn’t let a lot of shit shake his peace. I respected it and him, but right now I just needed to be on my own.

  Alone with my thoughts.

  Chapter Thirteen

  Hennessy

  “How long you plannin’ on giving me the silent treatment?”

  The sound of Cruz’s voice startled me from my own whirling thoughts. That by itself was terrifying since I hadn’t heard his motorcycle or four wheeler drive up.

  I took a deep breath to summon up all the strength I could to look into those piercing blue eyes.

  “I’m not giving you the silent treatment, Cruz. I just have some things on my mind.” Like marrying a complete stranger who was sort of family, but also a biker-sex-club-owner-veteran, and the scary mobster who wanted to wife me up.

  He nodded and raked a hand through his hair, blowing out a long contemplative breath.

  “I know you do, but you’ve been walking around in silence for at least two days now. What gives?”

  I arched a brow in his direction because, seriously?

  “What gives is that you chased me down and convinced me to stay but still, two days later, you haven’t said shit about what your damn gang has decided to do.”

  “Club,” he said automatically. If things hadn’t been so dire, it might have been funny, the way they were trained to correct those who called them a gang.

  “I haven’t said anything because I haven’t heard anything. I told you, when I hear, you will.”

  “Oh, well that’s just great. I’ll just hold my breath and keep my bags packed then.”

  I knew I was being a bitch, but damn men and their bullshit promises. I had enough problems with Homer. The asshole.

  “Look Cruz, I appreciate the thought, really I do. You’re as good as Esme said. But I think it’s best if I just get outta here. I’m wasting time and only letting them get closer to finding me.”

  “Fuck. That.” The words came out on a dark growl that, frankly, did some crazy fiery things to my body.

  “Those motherfuckers aren’t going to do anything to you. I already told you, I’m going to marry you and keep you safe no matter what, Hen. All right?”

  I nodded and folded my arms, waiting for the next round of false promises.

  “The only question is will we be living here on the ranch or someplace else.”

  That was a little more comforting, but I shook my head, unwilling to accept any of it. One thing I’d learned in my twenty-six years was that when something sounded too good to be true, it usually was.

  “What’s the hold up? Why is it taking your club so long to decide if they want to help me or not?”

  “I don’t fucking know, okay!”

  The roar startled a gasp out of me, and Cruz held his hands up, looking horrified at the prospect that I was afraid of him. I wasn’t, but it was comforting to know it might bother him.

  “I’m as pissed as you are about it, Hen. After all the shit…never mind. The point is you’ve got me, if nothing else. Got it?”

  Damn! That took some of the steam out of my ass, didn’t it?

  “I don’t want to cause any trouble with you and your club. I appreciate the offer, but I didn’t come here to fuck up your life, not like this anyway.”

  It was stupid to assume they were some kind of fucking Robin Hood group, willing to help out anybody who needed it. The old ladies at the B&B and the people in town were different. They lived around here and keeping them safe was a matter of self-preservation, not heroism.

  “You could’ve said that a few days ago,” he bit out and the unusual snark teased a laugh out of me.

  “Pretty sure I did, and then some crazy biker chased me down the highway.”

  Not that it mattered. It was seriously time to hit the road and drive until my eyes couldn’t see straight.

  “In a few hours it’ll be like I was never even here.”

  I stood up from the sofa and stepped around his big frame that made the room seem so mu
ch smaller, and escaped upstairs to his bedroom to retrieve my already packed bags. Cruz was on the phone, my phone, when I came back downstairs.

  “Who told you to answer my phone?”

  With an amused smile on his face, Cruz held up a hand to quiet me, and I barely resisted the urge to snatch the phone from his hand.

  “I always try to be a good boy, Miss Elizabeth.”

  He chuckled, eyes filled with mischief as he looked at me.

  “Yeah, she sure is a looker. I’ll be sure to pass along the message.” He ended the call and tossed the phone my way.

  “Well? What did she want?”

  I couldn’t think of a reason the B&B ladies would call me, unless my card had been rejected. “Cruz?”

  “Some guy called looking for you, but he misspelled your name when Mary pretended she wasn’t familiar with the drink.”

  His smile faded slowly, almost as if he was trying to give me time to let the words sink in.

  But it was unnecessary. “Good thing I’m getting out of here, then, isn’t it?”

  “Wrong. It means you’ve been stupid and worse, reckless while running from them, Hen. Your credit cards? Really?”

  He shook his head like he was disappointed in me.

  “Well excuse the hell out of me for not knowing the rules of being on the run from a fucking mobster!”

  “You’ve seen a damn TV show before, haven’t you?”

  “Yeah, I just finished a show about a chick with a cool-ass dragon? Know where I can find one? Better yet, can you get me a plane ticket to Never Never Land? I hear it’s gorgeous this time of year.”

  “Dammit, Hennessy, this is part of the deal. I can’t do anything about that.”

  I nodded, acknowledging that my presence in his life had caused major upheaval.

  “It’s a good thing that I can.” I shoved the phone in my back pocket and closed the distance between us.

  “It was good to see you, Cruz. You grew into almost the exact man I thought you would.”

  I kissed his cheek and wrapped my arms around him, hanging on a little bit longer than necessary. He felt good in my arms. “Take care.”

  “Hennessy, wait.”

  I shook my head and kept moving forward before I lost my nerve, my gaze locked on the front door. My escape. I opened the door and let out a shriek at the giant cowboy with black hair and blue eyes standing there with murder in his eyes. He was so damn tall, I had to step back to get a clear look at him, catalog his features as another thought occurred to me. I didn’t know what the hell Eugene McArthur’s men looked like so I slammed the door and locked it.

  “Shit. Fuck.” I turned to stare at Cruz who just looked amused, which pissed me off.

  “See ya!” I headed out the back door, hoping I could get to my car before the giant got to me.

  “Hennessy!” I heard Cruz call for me but since he didn’t seem inclined to help, I had to do what I always did. Help myself.

  I rounded the cabin and noticed the cowboy was still on the porch with one hand shoved into a pair of fitted light blue jeans. Good, while he was thinking about the best way to get inside, I made a run for it to my rental. I didn’t stop to see if he noticed or if I was in his cross hairs, I just ran as fast as my legs would allow with my bags in one hand and keys in the other.

  “Okay.” Inside the safety of the car, I could only hear the pounding of my heart as my fingers fumbled with the keys, dropping them twice and failing, three times, to shove the key into the ignition. “God-fucking-dammit!” Would anything go right today?

  A loud bang sounded behind me, and I screamed, daring a glance in the rearview mirror where I saw a sight that stunned me. Cruz and the cowboy stood behind my car, arms folded and dark expressions on their handsome faces. Were all gangsters so damn gorgeous?

  “Get out of the car, Hennessy.”

  Fuck that. His words stilled my fingers enough to get the engine roaring to life. I smiled to myself at the small victory and glanced back. They were still standing there, which meant I had to decide, them or me. It was no question really, so I shifted into reverse and tapped the gas, shocking them both the hell out of my way. As soon as was clear of them, I took a breath and changed gears, giving the cowboy time to jump in beside me.

  “Hello, Hennessy.”

  “No! Get out!” I slammed on the gas and drove in circles, hoping it would fling the big man out onto the dusty road and give me some time to put miles between us.

  “Hennessy!”

  He shouted at me with a familiarity I didn’t like, and I slammed on the brakes which sent his face flying towards the dashboard.

  “Fuck!” he said, turning a thunderous expression to me.

  I shrunk back, sure a meaty fist was about to rain down on me. Instead he reached forward and yanked the keys from the ignition.

  “Goddamn stubborn-ass woman.”

  With those grumbled words, he stepped from the car, a hand to his nose.

  “You’ll have your hands full with that one, man. Good luck.”

  Cruz laughed and shook his head as he came to a stop beside the driver’s door.

  “Hennessy, this is one of my brothers, Holden. In fact, I’m pretty sure he’s already agreed to be the best man.”

  Shit. “Oh my God, I’m so sorry. I thought…”

  The man, Holden, held his free hand up. “It’s obvious what you thought, and I understand.”

  “Still, I’m sorry about your nose.”

  Cruz let out another chuckle. “Apologize to Aspen. She’s gotta look at his ugly mug every day.”

  “So do you,” he grunted. “If you’re in a listening mood, I came to tell you that everything checked out, and Gunnar says you’re good. Both of you.”

  While those words gave me a huge sense of relief, they only seemed to anger Cruz. I couldn’t understand why.

  “Yeah, great,” he snarled. “Thanks.”

  Even Holden seemed confused. His brows dipped into a deep vee. “No problem. We’ll talk later.”

  Cruz nodded and watched Holden walk over to a golden horse, hop on like he’d been doing it his whole life, and rode away. Then, he turned to me, laughter shining in his eyes.

  “I guess we’ve got a wedding to plan.”

  I nodded and stepped from the car since the keys were…not in my possession. “He took my keys.”

  “Good. I don’t want you running from me again, Hennessy.”

  His gaze was gravely serious, his expression not giving an inch.

  “I wasn’t running from you. I was running away from that thuggy cowboy.”

  His lips twitched. “Can’t wait to tell him you said that.” He flung an arm over my shoulder. “Come on, wifey. We’ve got a lot to discuss before the weekend and I have a shift at the club tonight, which means you do too.”

  He grinned at my dismay, and I knew then, someone had told him about my visit to The Barn Door.

  Chapter Fourteen

  Cruz

  “Looks like your brother is having the time of his life.”

  The words tumbled out of my mouth on a grin, but Wheeler’s displeased grunt turned it into full blown laughter.

  “This is what you called me down here for?” He folded his big-ass arms across his chest, and a pissed off expression darkened his face.

  “I ought to kick your ass, but I don’t want you to have a black eye on your wedding day.” His lips twitched, and I wanted to punch him.

  “I’d still be prettier than you so have at it.”

  It was foolish to push Wheeler, but it was so damn fun I couldn’t help myself.

  “Besides, who wouldn’t want to see all this?”

  I motioned to the two-way mirror we stood behind, watching Mitch take on three women.

  “That’s your brother taking on three chicks, one in every shade.”

  Wheeler shook his head. “You’re sick in the head, you know that?”

  I shrugged and kept my gaze on the action inside one of the fuck rooms. “Loo
k at that. That girl has her tongue so deep in his ass she can probably taste what he had for dinner.”

  Wheeler’s lips twitched, and he shook his head, but he didn’t look away. “I’ve got eyes, Cruz.”

  “Yeah, but you’re not appreciating this. Now look at that other chick under him, grabbing his ass while he’s fucking her face, begging him to give her more cock.” I let out a low whistle. “That’s the definition of cock hungry, man.”

  We should all be so lucky.

  “And then, just because he’s a fucking man, he’s licking that hot long-haired chick like she was the last drop of food at his favorite buffet.”

  It was hot as fuck, even though I never wanted to see Mitch, or anyone else I knew, butt naked and getting their asshole licked.

  “If you’re so interested, go join them. Unless you’re saving yourself for your wedding night.”

  Wheeler laughed at my look of dismay and clapped me on the back before walking away.

  “I’ll be in the office.”

  “Beating off to what you just saw?” I laughed at the middle finger he sent me before he turned the corner and disappeared into the rooms reserved just for employees.

  Long after Wheeler was gone and long after I moved on from Mitch getting his freak on with the hot chicks, Wheeler’s words rang in my ear. Saving yourself for your wedding night.

  Sure, I’d thought about fucking Hennessy, almost since the moment she arrived, but I hadn’t thought about it in practical terms. Hennessy and I would be living together, which was intimate all on its own, but her penchant for running around in next to nothing would be hard. Really fucking hard if she planned to live like a nun during our marriage.

  But I remembered the way her eyes had darkened with desire in the kitchen. Her scent had wafted over the counter, mixing with the smells of breakfast. Hennessy wanted me, too, which meant I’d be getting my dick inside her in just a few days. That thought brought a smile to my face, and I continued down the hall, stopping to watch the mayor of Opey and his wife inside the harem room with a young blonde-headed couple.